String Theory_ Fusion (Book 2) - Kirsten Beyer [96]
She cast a questioning glance at Seven and B’Elanna and said, “I am Assylia, rih-hara-tan of the Fourteenth Tribe of Monorha and commander of the Betasis. I would speak to you in private, Commander Harry Kim.”
B’Elanna couldn’t help but snicker softly before tapping her combadge and saying, “Torres to Chakotay.”
Assylia jumped slightly as Chakotay’s disembodied voice echoed over the comm.
“Chakotay here.”
“Report to the holographic lab immediately. There’s someone here who wishes to speak with you.”
“I’m on my way. Chakotay out,” he replied.
Turning to Assylia, B’Elanna said, “Our commander will be here in a moment. I’m Lieutenant Torres, and this is Seven of Nine.”
Assylia looked more closely at Seven and said, “I know you.”
Raising herself to her full height, Seven replied, “We have interfaced once before.”
“You invaded my ship,” Assylia said, her serpentine neck extending upward until her eyes were level with Seven’s.
“We were looking for information,” B’Elanna interjected quickly. “We need your help.”
“How many of your people have died, Lieutenant Torres?” Assylia asked.
“None… yet,” B’Elanna replied.
“They will,” Assylia said sadly. “It is only a matter of time.”
Chapter 12
Tom’s first step in analyzing the array’s tetryon transport system was to confirm that his initial hypothesis-that what one thought before transport was relevant-was accurate. He was able to confirm it in a way that satisfied him, but had your typical Starfleet scientist been shown his methods or results Tom was certain he would have been laughed out of his uniform.
Once the creatures had been made visible he took the unauthorized but, in his opinion, absolutely necessary step of returning to the array to test the system in its own “home.” Given the size of the station he was able to use the schematics to pinpoint locations which he was certain were devoid of life-forms and move freely between dozens of transport sites and Voyager. Up to that point, his premise held. As long as he focused intently upon his destination just prior to stepping into the line of alcoves, he ended up at the precise coordinates he imagined.
Step two had been to remove a pair of the mechanisms in its entirety from the array in order to attempt to integrate it into Voyager’s systems. As a team of engineers set to work rebuilding the pair of alcoves in the main shuttlebay, Tom analyzed the scans of the transports to determine as best he could why the mechanism worked. It would have been enough for him to know that it did, but he was going to need more than theory to sell the first officer on the plan he was about to propose. He was going to need irrefutable proof that the device could be used safely.
Poring over the sensor data from the transports, he began to form a rough theoretical premise which was so simple, yet so beyond anything he had ever imagined possible, that he almost scrapped it entirely and gave up. He silently wished that B’Elanna could spare a few moments to help him with his analysis, but at the same time was certain that based on what he had, she would dismiss the project out of hand as altogether too dangerous to pursue.
Ensign Brooks approached and informed him that the system integration had been complete. One of the two necessary transporter alcoves had been embedded within a wall of the shuttlebay. The other alcove was placed five meters opposite it but connected to its mate by a series of fine, fragile cables. Tom had decided that for his next series of tests, he would re-create as best he could the operating parameters of the alcoves as they were set up on the array. Putting enough distance between the pair to accommodate a shuttle was a hurdle he would deal with later.
Tom was now free to test the transporter again, but there was one insurmountable problem. He didn’t need to transport himself or any other individual within either the ship or the array. He needed to use the mechanism to transport objects, a probe and in the very near future a shuttle, using the tetryon technology, and no inanimate object could “think.” Even